10 Patents That Make Simple Tasks Crazy Complicated

Do you ever reach for a tissue and find yourself wishing that changing a lightbulb could be more... challenging? The inventors of these patents all dreamed of a world full of complex solutions to problems that have already been solved.

The Bird Diaper

The Bird Diaper

Cleaning up bird poop is no picnic, especially when it falls on your newly washed car. These inventors decided it would be easier to somehow finagle a flying animal into this full-bodied diaper, though we're not sure how we're going to get all the world's pigeons into these things. Submitted by Lorraine Moore, Mark Moore, and Cely Giron in 1999.

Birthday-Cake-Candle Extinguisher

Birthday-Cake-Candle Extinguisher

According to the patent submitted by Paul Bosak in 1963, this device "fulfills a long-felt need at birthday parties for small children who may have insufficiently forceful breath to extinguish a cake." It also "avoids a fire hazard." No word as to whether this festive canister of compressed air works on those pesky trick candles.